Unwinding
by misspatchesmom
Summary: It's been a very stressful case and Tim McGee just wants to unwind, but he finds himself drawn back to Ziva's secret office. Tag to S16, ep13, "She." Spoilers


Unwinding

_It's been a very stressful four days and Tim is so ready to unwind after the team closes the case of Morgan Burke, but he's restless and can't go home just yet. Spoilers for "She" S16, ep13._

Tim placed his bag on the passenger seat of his car. The case had been emotional for all of them, some more so than others. The worst part of it had been when he'd had to lie to Gibbs. Tony wasn't on his way back to Paris, nor was he unreachable. The 'voice mail' that he'd told Gibbs about had actually been a very quick conversation with both Tony and Ziva to give them the heads' up about finding the secret office. The secret office that even TIM didn't know about…

He started his car, planning to force himself to drive home and go to sleep. Once in motion though, he headed back to the secret office on instinct. He felt drawn to the room, but couldn't quite put a finger on why. Perhaps once he got there and looked around without the others present, he would know.

He parked his car on the street and pulled his lock-picking kit out of his bag. '_Thank you, Ziva, for teaching me that skill_,' he thought. He slid his weapon into his waistband and closed the car door quietly. He walked quickly but stealthily to the back of the property and the small building that had been a hotbed of emotions just a few days ago. That journal entry about Somalia had nearly caused him to burst into tears in front of them all. The part he hadn't read aloud most of all: _'I had been ready to die, but seeing my friend, who I now knew in my heart that I could not live without, rekindled the desire to live, to survive, to thrive, within me. I glanced to the side after the monster left and spotted another friend, who my heart now saw as a brother; the family I never truly had before.'_

As he approached the building, his gut started screaming at him to proceed with caution; something was 'off.' He stopped, noticing that the lock was opened and the door slightly ajar. He slid the weapon from his waistband and slowly stepped towards the door. He sensed that someone was inside; someone with either a key or lock-picking tools. He nudged the door open with his foot and aimed the gun. He was about to speak when he saw Bishop leaning on the desk with a dumb-struck expression on her face.

"Bishop?"

Ellie startled and shoved the piece of notebook paper she had been holding into her pocket. "Tim? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied. "What did you put into your pocket?"

"Um, nothing," Ellie had no idea what Tim did nor didn't know and she was not about to be the one to break a promise, even if it had been in her head only.

"Are you okay?" Concern and curiosity mixed in Tim's voice.

"Will be. You?"

"Yeah," Tim sighed. "It's been a crazy four days, hasn't it?" he looked around the room, imagining Ziva sitting at the desk in the dark of night, pouring her heart and soul into the pages she wrote. He could feel her presence in the room, larger than life, and for the first time, he understood.

"Hey, I'm gonna be going; lock up when you're done, okay?" Ellie moved to the door. "Night…"

Tim barely registered Ellie leaving, "Um, yeah… night." This room, this sanctuary, was Ziva's 'safe place,' her sanity, her way of letting her emotions rebalance, her way of making sense of the insanity that they dealt with every day. Just like the man who was the one she could not live without, she put on a 'game face' every day. He put on the mask of a clown, a dumb jock, while she put on the mask of Mossad. No wonder they connected; the two were so much more alike than Tim had ever thought possible. That they had trusted him with their secret seemed even more improbable. He wore his emotions on his sleeve, but he loved both of them dearly. He could feel the tears forming and let them flow.

He ran his hand over Ziva's coat that rested over the back of the chair. He saw the OSU t-shirt folded under it and placed his other hand on the shirt. Tony and Ziva, Ziva and Tony… they really were inseparable. He understood why they had kept their relationship a secret before she left; why they had not told anyone but him of their reunion in Paris, well, except for Senior. He understood why they bent over backwards to make Tali's world free from the ugliness that had scarred both of their childhoods.

He smiled to himself when he saw the scrap of paper with the drawing of rectangle with an M; their symbol for each other to check the secure e-mail he had set up years ago for the three of them if needed. Time to go home!

Back at home, he slipped quietly into the apartment. No sounds other than the sounds of sleeping wife and children as he carefully listened as he made his way to his office. He pulled his personal laptop from the storage drawer and logged in to the email account. He noticed that he had a new message from three hours ago. He clicked to open it.

A huge grin spread across his face as the image came on the screen; Tony holding a little boy, Tali standing beside her mother, Tony's free arm around an obviously pregnant Ziva. Tears ran freely down his face for the second time since he had left NCIS that night.


End file.
